Overview of Natural Products:

A natural product is a chemical compound or substance produced by a living organism-that is, found in nature. In the broadest sense, natural products include any substance produced by life. Natural products can also be prepared by chemical synthesis (both semisynthesis and total synthesis) and have played a central role in the development of the field of organic chemistry by providing challenging synthetic targets. Natural products sometimes have therapeutic benefit as traditional medicines for treating diseases, yielding knowledge to derive active components as lead compounds for drug discovery. The term natural product has also been extended for commercial purposes to refer to cosmetics, dietary supplements, and foods produced from natural sources without added artificial ingredients.